Inspired by the events that happened and had followed September
11, 2002, Producer, Composer, Saxophonist, and Multi-Instrumentalist
Jesse Allen Cooper, a seventh generation American who has traced
his family history all the way back to one of the country's Benjamin
Franklin, privately produced an album of music incorporating vocalizations
by Diane Vaughn and Serpentine and his own narration of the horrific
attacks on America. The CD incorporates elements of Middle Eastern
percussion layered over contemporary urban musical techniques
like looping, appropriation, and ambient jazz to create a kind
of meditation on the events for one's own consumption.

The finished work resonates with the composer's concern, not
just for those directly affected, but also for all humanity. Proceeds
for the album will go toward the Jessie Allen Cooper Children's
Fund, which will help to bring the arts back into public schools.
For additional information visit the website at www.coopersoundwaves.com.
-Mark A. Rivera

While I do want to move on quickly from the subject of 9/11, there's
one more release I wanted to mention, this time in music form.
I've been listening to one of the most haunting ? yet somehow
cathartic ? releases I think I've ever heard. What's interesting
is that I don't know if it's the music that is causing the flood
of emotions, or if it's the prism of the events of 9/11 that is
allowing the music to have more resonance. The CD in question
is 9-11-01 (Cooper Sound Waves, $14.95 SRP), by Jessie Allen Cooper.
The suite was begun immediately following the attack, and the
flood of emotions is evident when you listen to the piece ? which
combines vocals and soundbites from the actual news coverage of
the events. When I first heard of this CD, I thought, "There's
another guy trying to capitalize on a national tragedy, and I
want no part of it." Then I heard the disc... and I was wrong.
People respond in their own ways to tragedy... writers write,
painters paint, orators speak, and musicians write music.